Day eleven, part three

Reese didn't think before turning and scrambling back up and over the fence. Ghosts, ghosts, ghosts. Another puzzle to solve, another clue to decipher...

"G-ghosts," she stuttered as she reached Porcelain and Bean.

"Ghosts?" questioned Porcelain.

"Ghosts," Reese confirmed. "'Ghosts'. That's what it told me."

"What's 'it'?" asked Bean. She gave Porcelain an anxious look.

"The... the... thing. I dunno! We have another clue!" Reese shouted. "Ghosts!" she added to get her point across. Porcelain gave her an alarmed look.

"So.. do you want us to try and sort out what it means?" Bean asked slowly. Reese gave her a look Bean couldn't read.

"...YEAH!" Reese practically screamed, her voice many octaves higher than it usually was. This did nothing to soothe Porcelain.

"Reese," Bean said slowly and calmly, "I think you need to just calm down, okay? We get this is a big deal, and we're going to work this out, but you're freaking us out here."

Reese reluctantly took a deep breath, her gaze flickering over to Porcelain, who was trying very hard to look unfazed. 

"Ghosts," Reese said again, slowly this time. "They have to mean something that has to do with the vacation..."

"The ski lodge," Bean corrected.

"And..." Porcelain continued, struck with an idea, "We decided the ski lodges always have a murderer, right? And there's always death? So there's a connection to ghosts!"

"But that doesn't feel very important," Reese argued. "Why would it, whatever it is, just give us that one clue, when really all it does it remind us of the connection of all the ski lodges? That wouldn't make sense."

"'It' is probably not supposed to tell us anything," Porcelain retorted.

"That's true," Bean admitted. "Still, we should definitely dig deeper, in case there is more to this clue that we're not seeing yet."

And of course, there was.

~~~~~

"I'm just realizing," Catsquill said, thinking out loud to no-one in particular, "She was the last member of her 'family'. And she was alone like that for such a long time..."

"She was just looking for the Lord of the Rings movies," mentioned the AE that had been talking to Estrella just minutes before her death. "She never got to see them." Catsquill gave them an intense look.

"She never got to see them?" he almost shouted. "That's just... sad. And I'm not even kidding."

All of the guests but Reese, Porcelain and Bean were lounging about in a random sitting room where most of the furniture was bean bags. They had just gotten back from a quick funeral for Estrella.

"Fgtr," Mor said solemnly. 

"That's right," Darkking confirmed, putting a hand on her back. Wren gave Darkking a questioning look, as if to ask, What was that? Darkking shrugged in reply.

"Remind me why we're not concerned about Porcelain, Reese and Bean just kinda disappearing?" asked Alex. Nihil made a point of giving everyone a piercing look- if anything happened to her CBer, the murderer was bound to pay.

"We decided that they were safe in a group," Caspian reminded her patiently. "If one of them were to be the, um, murderer, hurting one or both of the others would completely give them away."

"What ifth erre aree trps outt side?" Nihil asked fiercely. 

"I'm sure we would have found them by now, Nihil," Darkking soothed. "Cheer up. They'll be safe."

~~~~~

They were safe from the murderer, at least at that moment, but unless climbing dangerous fences and learning even more dangerous secrets is considered 'safe'... Darkking's reassurance was far from the truth. The three girls were still unaware of the true dangers of learning all of the things they were attempting to figure out, murderers aside. 

Bean was nodding slowly to herself, thinking in the silence they had created. Ghosts. Ghosts are dead people. Dead people become ghosts. People die in these ski lodges... and then... they come back as ghosts...

They do? Why would they need to come back? Bean asked herself. She thought about the ski lodges, always disguised as vacations. Quill would attend them all the time...

But that doesn't make sense, Bean argued. She died... and she's died before... WAIT!

Bean gasped, and Porcelain and Reese both turned to her. "What is it?" they asked.

"The- the ghosts! There's always death at the ski lodges, but then we always come back and do them again! We become ghosts!" Bean exclaimed.

"We already know that," Reese said irritably, but it clicked something together in Porcelain's mind.

"The Chatterbox!" Porcelain shouted triumphantly. Reese looked at her in pure confusion, but Bean nodded, her lips curling up into a grin.

"This all has to do... with the Chatterbox."

~~~~~

Simul gasped and nearly collapsed. Her head had just exploded with a searing pain. This all has to do... with the Chatterbox. The words echoed through her head and filled her with fear. No. This couldn't be happening. How could this be happening? She thought she had been careful...

This all has to do with the Chatterbox.

The murderer was hit with the same explosive pain. They took a deep, shuddering breath and tried their very hardest to keep calm. They excused themselves from the group, using the bathroom as an excuse. The murderer didn't make it far before they fell to the ground in a heap.

"No..." they gasped. How could they have let this happen? They knew people were finding things out, but they had done nothing to figure out who. And now that they knew it was Reese, Porcelain and Bean, it was too late; the three knew something that couldn't be taken back.

What should I do? The murderer asked themselves over and over again. What should I do? It was hard to think straight with their head pounding like that.

Go after them, of course, they finally answered themselves once they were able. If they're stopped, it might just stop the others from being told about what's going on.

When could they do that? The murderer knew they had to do it quickly, but they were in no mood to do such a thing. Well, they never really were, but the pain they were experiencing prevented them from being able to so much as do a jumping jack. They at least wanted to try and get it done before lunch...

I don't even know where those three are, the murderer tried to reason with themselves. But a horrible feeling in their stomach was telling them that they knew exactly where the three were... the place where the murderer themselves first learned all of the secrets. They knew if they stayed there for very long, things could easily collapse.

It was too much to think about, too much to process... the murderer's brain, already full of worries about ski lodges and mysteries, couldn't handle all that was being forced into it. The edges of their vision started to grow fuzzy...

~~~~~

Reese stared at Porcelain- first in confusion, then her expression slowly grew to awe.

"Of COURSE!" Reese exclaimed, smacking her forehead. "The ski lodges! The ski lodges always start with the Chatterbox!"

"And," Bean said, getting excited, "We can always go back to the Chatterbox, because after the ski lodges, we become ghosts.... we don't really die..."

Porcelain pressed her lips in a tight smile. "We're in a ski lodge." Her smile faded into a face of confusion. "What does that mean for us? Being in a ski lodge, dying but not dying, and going back to the Chatterbox?"

"What do you mean, 'What does that mean for us?' We're in a ski lodge! That's what there is to it!" Reese said. Bean and Porcelain weren't very convinced.

"Reese, we're finding out all these groundbreaking secrets about where we are, why we're here, and what's happening to us... surely it means more than just that," Bean pointed out. "There's definitely more we can discover! Guys, what else do you think we need to find out? What kind of questions do we have?"

"I feel like I have so many... but I have no idea how to ask them!" Porcelain confessed with a frustrated sigh.

"Well... let's start with what we know," Reese decided, furrowing her brow. She started to pace. "We found out about ghosts today. So all the people that died... they aren't really dead?"

"That seems to match up with what we've found out," said Bean, "...But how can they not be dead? We've seen them, we've buried them..."

"So... how can it be possible that they're not dead? Do they come back? Are their ghosts here, now?" Porcelain questioned. "I feel like I just confused myself more..."

Bean was staring very hard at a patch of grass. She was thinking very carefully about something. "Guys," she started slowly, "Have we ever bothered to ask why the fence holds these answers? Or what makes it a spot where we can find out these things? And," she looked up and gave Reese an unreadable look, "What is the 'it' you say just gives you these answers?"

A long silence followed. Porcelain tiled her head back just a little, with a look of determination on her face.

"We'll figure it out. And we'll have help."

~~~~~

Woah... so many things are happening! What do you think? What will happen if Reese tells everyone about all this stuff she's learning? What should they do with this information? Do you have any suspects for the murderer? 

The murderer woke up minutes later, their face squashed on the hard stone floor, back aching. They got up quickly- too quickly. They saw spots dancing in front of them and started to sway. They felt sick to their stomach, and stiff and aching from the awkward position in which they had fallen. The murderer sighed deeply. At least they hadn't been found... that certainly would have been hard to explain.

Slowly, the murderer found their strength. They remembered that they had supposedly gone to the bathroom, and had been gone for a while now. They returned to the group hastily. Darkking called out their name and gave them a smile.

"What took you so long?" asked Devin.

The murderer mumbled an excuse about getting a little lost.

"As long as you're okay," Alex said, her voice haunted with the ghost of skepticism. The murderer averted their eyes and plopped down in a seat next to Darkking.

"Porcelain, Bean and Reese just got back," Alex informed them. The murderer's ears pricked up. "They said they had an announcement, but they were waiting for you to get back."

Alex's word were like a punch to the murderer's gut. They knew, somehow, that they trio was going to tell everyone about what they had discovered... and there was no way to stop them without the murderer revealing themselves. They had failed, simple as that; they'd failed.

~~~~~

Bean entered the lounge room with a smile. She'd helped Porcelain write up the stack of notes in Reese's hand, and she was excited for Reese to present them to the other guests. As she looked around the room, however, she noticed someone was missing. She felt her stomach lurch.

"Where's Estrella?" she asked, fearing the answer. Wren gave her a sad look. A few of the others shook their heads. Porcelain, Reese and Bean understood... but they also understood why her death wasn't quite as sad as it might be if she was truly gone. The knowledge that she would see Estrella again made Bean feel less guilty about shifting the mood of the situation. 

Reese cleared her throat in a sort of authoritative way- none of them had realized that Reese could ever sound authoritative, but she'd been giving Bean and Porcelain surprises all morning, so they were used to the weirdness by then.

"Hey," Reese began, scanning the room. Wren, Mor, Darkking, Caspian, Alex, Catsquill, Devin, and Nihil looked at her expectantly. She smiled at them, looked down at the papers stacked in her hands. cleared her throat, and put the papers behind her back.

"There's some stuff I would like to tell you about," she stated.

"Would you like to do so within this calendar year?" Catsquill asked. "Just in case you didn't catch it, I'm asking you to speed up."

Reese gave him a dirty look before continuing.

"The identity of the murderer," she said slowly, "Is not the only mystery around here.

"I've been discovering some secrets. We have, I should say." she gestured towards Porcelain and Bean. "So were Marigold and Win. So was Gracia. And I think it's time you know what we've been doing and what we've found. This concerns all of us, after all, and we need your help if we want to find out more.

"I, uh... I'm really sure how to explain this. So... let me start at the beginning."

So Reese, shuffling and fumbling, nonetheless capturing the others' attention and bringing them into the mystery, started the story... with Gracia, and the murderer. She was careful to leave out the part where Agent Winter overheard the Interrogator as they questioned the murderer, and made up an excuse of how Agent Winter connected the ski lodges to the murderer. The guests listened very carefully, and all of them- save one- were completely stunned by the things they were learning. Most of them would never have suspected things like this were growing right under their noses... they had been too occupied with the murderer. When they heard about the most recent development with the ghosts, and how their friends and family were not truly dead but would come back on the CB, the room exploded into excited chatter.

"They're not gone!" Wren gushed, tears of happiness in her eyes. "Leeli and Far- they're not really dead! Devin, we'll get to see them again!"

"And Leeli will get to boss me around again," Devin replied with a roll of his eyes. But there was no hiding his smile.

"And Jwyn isn't gone either," Alex realized, quiet and content. Bean grinned, thinking about Quill and her siblings. Wait until they hear about what she'd discovered!

"What does all of it mean, though?" Porcelain questioned, bringing some quiet back to the room.

"What doyu mean?" asked Nihil.

"There are still plenty of questions we need answered. Questions about the ghosts and the other CBers, questions about the fence, about how we're being affected by discovering all of this. We still don't really know what it is we're trying to discover, or why it exists, or how..." 

The guests went quiet at Porcelain's questions. How were they going to find the answers? Would they be able to? Did they even want to? They had come this far... would they know where to look next?

"Yeah... I am really curious about the fence. Why does it have all the answers? What makes it such a unique place?" Darkking asked.

"Why don't we write down a list of questions we have, then we can try to figure out how to answer them?" suggested Alex. The idea of organizing their thoughts sounded like the logical solution to her.

Everyone agreed that would be a good idea- it would be best to see what they would be searching for, then gather ideas of how to search for it. After a few minutes, they had compiled a list of questions: How much more is there to this mystery? How does this affect the murderer? Why are we able to discover these things? What should we do about the fence? Is it safe to be going over the fence? Who or what is behind all of this? Should we involve Simul and the instructors?

"Woww," Mor said.

"I know," Catsquill agreed. "There's a lot we need to figure out."

"I... I can't believe this just HAPPENED!" Devin exclaimed. "How'd you guys keep this all to yourself for DAYS?"

"It was easier to do that when Marigold and Win were in charge," Reese explained. "They had the sense to know it was best not to involve the murderer, but I figured if everyone knew, we wouldn't need to be worried about slipping up and accidentally telling the murderer."

"Why do you think the murderer is targeting those who did know about all of this?" Caspian mused.

"My guess is that they know something we don't, and they want to keep us from figuring it out," Porcelain quipped. "You can add it to the list if you want, though!"

"Yeah... I have lots of questions about how the murderer fits into all of this," Bean admitted. "We know there's always a murderer at the ski lodges, and we're pretty sure that can't be a coincidence... so what forms that pattern? Did the murderer choose this? And did they know that everyone would become ghosts before they started killing them?"

"Well, we're assuming they know everything we do, since we've figured they probably have even more information... so maybe they did, or do know that their actions aren't permanent!" Wren theorized hopefully.

The eleven guests thought about that for a moment. Could it be possible the murderer was aware their actions weren't quite as serious as they could be?

"Well, I'm starving," Darkking announced finally. "Do you guys want to keep discussing this over lunch?"

"Yess!" Mor chimed in. Everyone agreed to that... in the craziness of what they'd just discovered, they hadn't paid attention to their growling stomachs.

As they walked towards the dining room in one big group, no-one noticed the murderer rubbing their temples, or their flimsy smile... in the midst of what was happening, the guests had forgotten to be suspicious of those around them.

The murderer couldn't wait for lunch to be over.

day eleven part five~

Simul entered the dining room to find the guests, once again, in high spirits. It was odd... she would have thought their moods would only have gotten worse as their numbers shrunk; but now, even with so few, they were having a great time. She noticed there was a notebook in the center of the table that they were all looking at and, it seemed, talking about... she also noticed the murderer looked very uncomfortable.

"What are y'all up to?" she asked casually- or at least, she thought her tone was casual.

"Oh! Um," Porcelain pressed her lips together and gave the other guests a questioning look. Catsquill shook his head, Nihil gave her a stern look, and Alex mouthed "No!"

"We're just planning for the afternoon," Porcelain replied.

"Nice! Are you guys doing anything fun?" Simul asked, waving her hands and making lunch appear on the table.

"That's... what we've got to plan!" Darkking answered cheerily, not meeting Simul's eye.

"Well... alrighty then! I'll leave you to it!" Simul said, overdoing her faux smile just a little bit. She left with her usual flourish. Mor sighed with relief.

"Do you think we should tell her about what we're doing?" Bean asked.

Devin shrugged. "She'd bound to find out anyways."

"No. I' sure she'll try to stop us," Catsquill said firmly.

"I'd like to see her try," Reese huffed. Alex rolled her eyes.

"Reese, she's in charge of us. Of course she could stop us," Catsquill said.

"Oh. Right. Well... we could rebel against her and still do it anyways!" Reese proclaimed, banging her fist on the table. Devin cheered, but most of the others rolled their eyes. Typical Reese...

"Well, shes rigt," Mor gave in sadly.

"Really? You believe so?" Caspian asked, somewhat flabbergasted. Rebelling against Simul seemed like a ridiculous thing to him- she was in charge, after all!

"Yeah... if, in the end, Simul DID tell us we couldn't go back to the fence or mess with this stuff anymore... we would have to sneak behind her back," Darkking explained. "But that doesn't feel right!"

"Neither does any of this," Alex pointed out. "But here we are..."

There was a lot of truth in her words, and nobody had an argument for that. They'd spent the last half an hour planning and asking questions and thinking over what they knew, they'd forgotten to slow down and acknowledge how insane all this information they'd collected really was. None of them had imagined their day going the way it had- with Reese, one of the strangest and possibly least trustworthy AEs, announcing she had found some secrets to share with them... and then have them turn out to be important!

There was a silent agreement among them, for a few minutes, that they should just sit quietly and mull over their thoughts. It was a lot to take in, and they all just needed some quiet time to think.

Wren took a deep breath. When Reese was asking her if she wanted to come discover some secrets, she never thought they would have an impact like this- or that she would want or need to learn them at all. Now that she had learned them, she was nervous... something about all of it made her feel uneasy. She left like they were going behind Simul's back.

Alex was intrigued by the possibilities that the matter presented. Who knew what else was out there to be discovered? She was taking it better than she first thought she would; these facts changed the vacation- or rather, ski lodge- entirely. She was glad to be willing to accept them.

Darkking was both thrilled and completely overwhelmed about what they had discovered. He was grateful for a break from the conversation, but he was also looking forward to discussing further; he was hoping then he would get a better grasp of what was going on.

Mor wasn't really pretending to understand what exactly was happening. She was glad to see her CBer and her friends involved in something that would bring them closer together, and she was happy knowing that none of the guests who had died were, well... dead.

Caspian had barely gotten over the shock of what he'd learned- the importance of it, the raw truths, the magnitude of what it was and how it would affect them. His confused thoughts did muster one very happy one: he would see Marigold and Wendy again! And he was glad to see those around him happy. If he couldn't grasp exactly what was happening, he could be content with the joy he had found and the happiness of the others.

Nihil was silent as ever, but her brain was working furiously. She could accept what she'd been told easily enough- easier than some of the other guests, at least- but she was prevented from brainstorming and theorizing as much as she would like to simply because she was, in fact, a CAPTCHA. Her brain, working in four (and five) letters, couldn't process her thoughts quite as quickly as they came.

Porcelain was still staring at the list of questions even in their mental break, but her thoughts were unfocused. She'd spent lots of time already pondering the questions laid out before her, and she was very ready for the break. She was glad to have been part of the mystery in the way she was, but if was a relief to have everyone around her know what was going on; it took some stress away from her and made her feel less like she was harboring something big and dangerous.

Bean was also taking a well-deserved break from the mystery. She was enjoying the silence around her, because it allowed her to take a good look at the other guests and see how they appeared to be doing. She also felt like, with the secrets out, she was able to breathe freely again, and she could talk to the others without concern. In taking the time to examine the faces and movements of those around her, Bean was able to get an idea of who was tired, who was excited, who was nervous, and who was suspicious.

Reese was feeling fidgety, even though they hadn't been resting for long. She was sort of on a roll with the whole thing, and now that she had been discussing it all morning, she was ready to continue with it. She never confessed it to anyone else, but she regretted the time she wasted on day 10. She almost frightened herself, feeling guilty about playing games, but she also realized that she could have been over the fence at any point in time yesterday. It was just wasted time for something that didn't seem quite as important as what was at hand. She stayed focused and kept her eyes on the paper full of questions.

Devin didn't have many thoughts on the matter. He was annoyed by the prolonged silence and the sudden shift from the previous day's games and fun to day eleven's seriousness. He knew if he tried to understand exactly what was happening, he would quickly become overwhelmed, so he thought it best to stay out of it. The solution seemed logical enough to him.

Catsquill, the final guest, had two major voices saying things in his mind. The first was full of rational theories and predictions, while the other was screaming things like "This is insanity!" and "That scribble looks like a dragon!". He tried his best to focus on the former of the two, but the latter kept butting in with completely useless thoughts. He guessed it was still just so hard for him to grasp that this was really happening, he wasn't able to focus like he wanted to. He let his thoughts run just a little bit wild during their mental break, but he promised himself he'd shift his focus back just as soon as they got back at it.

All of this went on within just a couple of minutes where all the guests' busy minds took a break, went wild, or tried to refocus. The silence was well-deserved, but also short-lived.

"Okay," Porcelain piped up quietly. "That was nice. Do you think we should get back to it now?"

Some were reluctant, others eager, but either way, the meeting resumed.

~~~~~

TOP TOP TOP TOP TOP 

Hello lovelies! In case you didn't hear me screaming on Nano, I finished!! I actually finished! Now I just have to post everything... and I'd like to post the very last parts on the two-year anniversary, which is TOMORROW. So... buckle up everyone, I'm just going to be editing + spamming as much as I can XD

Day eleven, part six (boy, this is a lonnng day)

There seemed to be so much for the guests to plan, but their time was short, and nobody quite knew how to say what had to be said. In the end, they did make a few decisions; They should come forward and tell Simul what they were doing, and their main goal was to figure out what the fence really was and what made it so special. Then, they thought, it would be easier to figure out what they were looking for.

After figuring out all of this, Bean took their list of questions and they all went to their magic lessons. In Earth, they realized that the only ones left were three guys- four, if you counted Terra. Darkking, Catsquill and Caspian joked together and had a good time. In the other classrooms, even those who weren't all that close with the others in their element could still chat and have a good time. It was strange, how the mystery had brought the remaining guests together instead of pulling them apart.

The elemental instructors were once again pleasantly surprised to find their guests in such high spirits, their magic growing and showing major improvements. Since they'd been doing well for the past couple of lessons, they didn't think to be suspicious of what made their magic so great that day.

After the lesson, the guests went their separate ways, many of them simmering with their thoughts and theories. One guest, armed with a crossbow and a burning headache, marched over to Simul's room for a talk that felt very overdue.

"There you are," Simul muttered, relieved. "I was worried you wouldn't come."

"I couldn't," the murderer growled. "They insisted on talking about it for half of the morning."

Simul felt a pang in her stomach. This was not good.

"They're going to find out more," the murderer persisted, urgent and concerned. "They're going to find out about the Mystery, soon enough. Their goal is to find out what significance the fence has, and why it's giving them answers."

"The fence!" Simul repeated. "That's where they're getting all this information?"

"They want to tell you in person what they've found and how they'd like to find more. I need you to act surprised when they do this, but refuse them firmly. Still, no matter what you say, they're going to go behind your back and find out anyways..."

Simul was in a panic now. "Safety measures, then? We should involve the instructors. They're bound to protecting the Mystery now. I could station them around the fence, if you'll tell me when they're headed out there."

The murderer nodded, then remembered something. they held up the walkie-talkie they'd had forever but hadn't used for days. "How in the world did we forget we had these?"

Simul smacked her forehead. "I have no idea," she admitted, "But thanks for the reminder."

The murderer sighed. "I stopped using it after Jwyn overheard me on it. That was how she found out..."

The murderer shook their head. "How? How could we do this? How could this happen?"

Simul watched, amazed, as every ounce of the murderer's cool, collected demeanor evaporated. She could see who they were when the control of the Mystery and all of the lies were stripped away; the murderer was so scared. They were disappointed in themselves, and they were barely holding on. It almost scared Simul to see them that way.

"Hey," she said awkwardly, trying to be comforting. She took a few steps towards them, unsure of what to do. "Look. We've got less than three days left. I'm going to do everything I can to help you and the Mystery. We're not going to let this happen. Alright?"

The murderer began to nod, reassured, but then violently began to shake their head.

"No," they gasped. "Simul... that's something I need to tell you about. The Mystery- we know it's broken, or breaking- it's not working right... through me. I can feel it sometimes... I used to be able to stop it, but- Simul," the murderer took a step forward, and their noses were nearly touching- Simul could feel their worries breath, feel their fear- "I can't hold it back. It's- it's- it's like it wants me to destroy it."

There, for a fleeting second, Simul could have sworn she saw something sinister and uncontrollable flash across the murderer's eyes. It looked hungry, it looked devastating, and it had a fire that could not be quenched. Terror burned within both the murderer and Simul.

The only way out, snarled the voice it the murderer's head, the only way to escape is to destroy it... you know what you have to do...

"NO!" the murderer shouted, slapping their fists to their temples. Simul jumped back in surprise. The murderer gulped down deep breaths, taking back control of themselves.

"See?" they whispered. Tears of anguish, pain and frustration began to form in their eyes, now vacant of the fire Simul glimpsed briefly. "It's betraying itself. I can't stop it. I don't know what to do with myself."

Simul ran her fingers through her colorful hair. Anxiety was bubbling up in her stomach, a hot stew of stress that was about to boil over. This was too much for her to take.

"We need to meet with L and C," the murderer said.

"Yes," Simul said gratefully. How could she have forgotten about them? This was the perfect time to meet. "Yes, definitely. I'll send them a message. Hopefully they'll know a way we can stop them- the others, and the Mystery."

The murderer nodded, staring at the floor. The two paused for a much-needed silence. Many of their thoughts scared them, and talking about it had only, for the most part, made things worse. At least they now had a meeting to look forward to... one that might bring them some reassurance, or some answers. And they had the elemental instructors on their side.

Sure enough, just as Simul entered the dining room to provide the guests dinner, she found them all waiting for her.

She remembered the murderer's words and feigned surprise. "What're y'all up to?" she asked, tilting her head to the side just so.

Catsquill cleared his throat authoritatively. "Well, there's some stuff we've been wanting to talk to you about."

"it that so?" Simul replied.

"It is," Alex said, raising an eyebrow. Simul glanced over at the murderer. Too much!

"Alrighty. Well, I'm all ears," Simul announced smoothly, trying her very best to act casual. Acting wasn't really one of her strengths. Luckily, not many of the guests noticed her odd movements.

Catsquill gave Porcelain a look. She had a piece of notebook paper in her hands, where many different hands had scrawled miscellaneous notes and reminders and facts. Porcelain cleared her throat.

"Well," she began hesitantly, "We've been discovering some things about Magicae Palace. I know that sounds kinda bad, but don't get nervous- I have no idea if you know about this stuff, but- well, Gracia was the first one we know of to find out about this..."

Through many stops and starts, random notes from other guests, and poor acting from Simul, they finally informed her about everything that they knew about. Simul, of course, already knew everything they did and then some, so she knew what was left for them to discover... and the dangers that would come if they were to do so.

The murderer had warned her, but hearing it from Porcelain's mouth truly scared Simul. There wasn't much to be done to stop them, except...

Simul took a deep breath. It had been seventeen minutes since she'd walked into the dining room, and with every one of them, her headache grew from a slight annoyance to a roaring, howling beast that demanded she do something, anything, to stop the guests...

"Alright, you kids," she said, her voice low and tired, "I am just going to tell you now: What you're doing is really, really dangerous. I know you don't realize it, but this affects everything about Magicae Palace in lots of ways. And honestly, none of them are good. So, I'm gonna need you to stop going to the fence. Stop trying to discover more. It's not gonna do any good."

Simul leaned back in her chair, looking at the shocked faces of the guests. They had expected Simul to tell them not to go back to the fence, but they definitely hadn't expected that kind of lecture- or her lack of surprise.

"If we can't do that, you have to explain why," Reese declared. "We deserve to know why."

Simul shared another glance with the murderer. It was true that the guests probably deserved an explanation, but how much of the truth should they know? She took a deep, slow breath, closing her eyes momentarily. This is not how I wanted to spend my day.

"Okay," she said finally. "Here's the deal.

"You know now that this is a ski lodge. You know how it's connected to the Chatterbox. You know there have been ski lodges for a while now, and they're connected to each other. There are rules for them. There are things that are supposed to happen, and things that aren't. In finding out what you have, you've broken one of the most important rules of a ski lodge. And guys, in all honesty, what you're doing is really hurting me, and also the murderer. Your knowledge effects us. You're affecting yourselves, too, though you can't see how. So, here's what I'm trying to say: just. Stop. Things can only get worse if you go any further."

The guests stared at her in shock and awe. Nobody knew quite what they should say. It was after some time that Wren finally squeaked, "I'm sorry where hurting you."

Simul looked at her. Wren, innocent and sweet, staring at the ground, twisting and wringing her hands guiltily. "It's okay," Simul whispered. It wasn't.

"How do you know about it hurting the murderer too?" Porcelain asked hesitantly.

Simul sighed. "Because." She didn't feel like elaborating.

"Why should we care?" Reese asked hotly. She sort of knew why they should, and she knew nobody had actually been killed, but she was on Simul's case, and Reese wanted her to admit something. "The murderer probably deserves whatever we're doing to them. Even if nobody is truly dead, they've hurt our friends and our family, and they've hurt us. We don't have to care what we're doing to them."

"Yes you do!" Simul snapped. Just what Reese wanted her to do.

"Why is that, huh?" Reese questioned. 

"They're one of you! Don't you care about each other? What the other people are you are feeling? What you could be doing to them?"

"How do you know what our discoveries have been doing to the murderer?" Reese asked.

"Reese! What are you doing?" Bean hissed. Reese ignored her and stared at Simul, who made the mistake of glancing around uncertainly, like she was searching for some excuse.

"Are you working with them?" Reese whispered.

"I," stuttered Simul. "I..."

"There's our answer," Reese announced matter-of-factly. The others didn't know what to say. Simul was working with the murderer? For how long? And how did it matter, how did it fit into everything else that was going on?

Simul stood abruptly. "I'm sorry you had to learn this," she said. "About everything. About me, the murderer, the ski lodges. Please, just don't go back to the fence. Don't go poking around in all of that business. It'll make things easier." She got up to leave, then remembered that she hadn't given them dinner, and waved her hand at the table, then left without looking back.

The guests exploded into conversation. 

Day eleven- last part of day 11

"This day is just so CONFUSING," Devin shouted. Nobody said anything in reply, but in their heads, everyone agreed. It has been a roller coaster of a day, and it seemed they just began to plummet down another steep hill- Simul's alliance with the murderer.

"We have no way of knowing how long she's been working with them," Alex said, "Or what exactly they've said to each other." She started to feel a sick feeling in her stomach. How many of the murders had Simul been involved with?

"Unless we just ask her," Catsquill pointed out.

"Arre youu crzy?" Nihil snarled.

"She's right. There's no way Simul's going to talk to us about this," Darkking agreed.

"Yoou nver know!" Mor said. "Shee miht!"

"We need more notebook paper," Caspian mumbled.

"I'm on it," Bean said, springing up from her chair. "I'll be back soon."

Simul's food, which was not quite as good or as diverse as usual, was mostly untouched, though not because of some tragedy that left the guests with hardly any appetite. They were focused, or at least most of them were. Devin once again mentioned the craziness of the day, but this time he mumbled it, and no-one paid him any attention. His brain was working extremely hard to try and digest everything that had unfolded in the last ten hours- no, even less than that, it was the middle of the morning when Reese, Bean, and Porcelain explained about the Mystery... (though the guests were oblivious to what it was called.)

They took a vote on confronting Simul and decided it would be a bad idea to do so; they doubted she would be very keen on telling them the truth, or giving them answers at all.

"I'm... I'm just so surprised we couldn't have realized this before!" Porcelain cried. "Or that it would happen at all, at that!"

"Tmps wass goin ttoo inte rogt herr," Mor mumbled. Most of the guests looked to Darkking for a translation.

"She said TAMPS was going to interrogate Simul," he explained. Alex's eyes widened, and Wren gasped softly, remembering...

"Why didn't they?" asked Caspian.

"Leafy died," Wren said shortly. A short silence followed as the other guests remembered how the murderer put a swift end to the organization that tried to resist them.

"Well... now maybe we know why the murderer really had to stop TAMPS," theorized Bean, who had arrived back at the table a minute or two ago. "They couldn't let us discover that Simul was working for them!"

"You think the murderer would protect Simul?" Catsquill asked dubiously.

"She protected them," Alex pointed out. "Why would she if the murderer hadn't done the same?"

That, everyone supposed, was a fairly good point. So, not only was Simul working with the murderer, but they also had a sort of alliance... it seemed Simul was working with them of her own free will.

That knowledge almost scared many of them. Simul had almost certainly chosen to work with someone who was hurting and manipulating them, or at least she accepted the job the murderer asked her to take on- she had defended them, after all, and she knew about whatever pain the Mystery had caused them. How well could they trust her now, if at all?

"Well, one thing's for sure," Reese decided. "We know she isn't trustworthy, so we don't have to feel bad about sneaking behind her back and going to the fence."

"Is that how that works?" Alex asked.

"Sure it is!" Reese replied. "She's working with the murderer. She's not with us. Who knows the real reason why she doesn't want us to go there!"

"You think she would make up something like the destruction of the ski lodge?" Bean asked. "That seems like a pretty far-fetched lie, and an extreme one."

"Simul is... odd, Reese, but I don't think she would lie to us like that without much of a reason," Caspian pointed out.

"She's been lying to us for who knows how long, working with the murderer!" Porcelain reminded them. Darkking sighed, his brow furrowed.

"Reese... do you really think we definitely, 100%, fully and completely, have to go back to the fence?" Darkking inquired. "Yeah, this stuff is just weird, and confusing, and it's strange to have a Mystery like this and leave it unsolved... but do we really need this?"

"Yeah!" Reese answered without hesitation. "I mean, it's important! It was important to Agent Winter and Marigold and Gracia! It's important to all of us and this vacation and what's going on around us! It's important because I have to figure this out, for Win, and for us, and what we've been through and what we already know- guys! We just have to!"

All ten of the other remaining guests looked at Reese. They hadn't expected something so powerful and riveting from the AE, but somehow, her words made so much sense to them. Those who had their doubts about how necessary their search was were brought back around by her words. They did need this! They needed answers! A mystery without a real answer, a real solution, would have gone investigated in vain. Those thoughts gave them confidence, and also some renewed strength in their feeling of being a team. Ever since lunch, they had been divided over little issues and how to approach them. But now that one of their biggest questions- if they should continue with what they were doing at all- was put to rest, they felt like they were on one side again. Even if they weren't on everything.

It was agreed: they would go behind Simul's back and warnings and go out to the fence early in the morning, getting past any obstacles she might put in their path. A good number of them still felt uneasy about this, and how they were betraying Simul's wishes and trust, but ultimately it was understood how important the mission was. It had to be done. It was simple as that: it had to be done.

~~~~~

"Before you start to try to explain," C started, "We already what's been happening."

"Oh." Simul blinked. "Right, of course you do. That's great."

"As far as the Mystery goes, and stopping the guests, well... there's not much we can tell you," L admitted.

"I thought that would be the case," the murderer replied. They tried not to act disappointed, even though it was true they had expected as much.

"For the cause of the malfunction, though, I'm surprised we didn't see it before," C said, excited to give them some useful information.

"I think we did, actually," L confessed. "It's more like... we were uncertain if we should tell you, or we weren't 100% sure. Anyways, I'll spit it out now: the malfunction in the Mystery has... sort of happened before, but not like this."

"First it was at the farm," C started to explain. "The host died. The murderer "woke up". Things went wrong. Then at the lake... well, everything went wrong there."

"Do you mean-" the murderer began to ask. L and C nodded before they could finish their question. The one thing no-one was ever supposed to know... the one thing the wild beast inside of them still craved knowing. The murderer had to fight some crazy desire to question the two further just at the thought.

"We know what it's doing to you, as well," L said quietly, looking at the murderer. There was softness in her eyes, and pity. "Lately, I mean. Simul told us."

"You couldn't detect it?" the murderer whispered. "On your own?" They shook their heads. 

"It worried us a lot too," C said. "That we couldn't 'see' something like that happening. I have no idea what could be going on there."

The murderer took a deep breath. "So, the 'lake'... what happened there is affecting us here?"

L and C nodded. "It broke there. That took a toll on all of our ski lodges, but we can see it most here," C explained.

"I know you guys are trying your best to stop them, but anything that's in your power... you have to do it," L implored. "What you guys do could save Magicae Palace, and quite possibly a lot more."

"If worse does come to worst, though, there are ways we know of that could fix things," C added. "So, just know there are fail-safes, but we'd prefer not to use them. We trust you two." 

Simul nodded. They hadn't learned much more than they already knew, but she understood there was nothing left to say. "Bye, you two. We'll do our best, we promise."

She and the murderer turned and silently began to walk back towards the castle, neither of them sure if they felt better of worse than they had before meeting with the two. When the murderer looked over their shoulder for L and C, they had vanished completely.

~~~~~ 

Day twelve, part one~

Terra tried in vain to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Beside him, Caeli yawned loudly. He looked around at the other elemental instructors with a sleepy gaze. It was very early, but Simul had said it was urgent. By the look on her face, Terra knew she wasn't exaggerating. 

"Okay, people," Simul began in a quiet, unintentionally overdramatic voice. Terra resisted the temptation to roll his eyes.

"There's something up with the Mystery. I need you to protect it."

That statement quickly got their attention. They hadn't really been concerned with the Mystery since they found out about it, but now they were presented with a situation where something was wrong with it.

"The guests have begun to discover some things about it."

Vita gasped softly, and Aqua's eyes widened in a way that might look comical in any other situation.

"How? And what do they know?" Caeli asked. Ingus leaned forward, her hands clasped tightly together. Simul, having expected them to ask, explained everything that had happened- including how the guests knew she was working with the murderer.

"What do you need us to do?" Vita asked urgently.

"The murderer is going to contact me when the guests are getting ready to go back out to the fence. When that happens, I'm going to send all of you out to the fence. I need you to do everything you can to stop them from getting close to it," Simul explained.

"Can't you use magic to stop them from getting close to the fence?" Terra questioned.

Simul shook her head. "The rules for my magic are weird. I'm not allowed to mess with the Mystery or anything related to it. I'm pretty limited."

Terra tried not to think about how that made no sense and focused on the task at hand. The Mystery was the most important thing right now.

"Can you tell us who the murderer is?"

Everyone around the table went silent at Ingus's request. Simul replied with a simple "No." That was the one thing they weren't allowed to know. They understood, however, that it wasn't because Simul lacked faith in them; it was simply to protect that guest. That was a term they accepted.

"So how will you be able to contact us just after the murderer contacts you?" Caeli asked.

For the first time since the meeting had started, a glimmer of excitement shined in Simul's eye. "Don't you worry about that," she assured them with a small smile.

~~~~~

Devin stared at his oatmeal and blinked rapidly. He had slept just fine, but for some reason, he was completely exhausted. He couldn't even go to pick up his spoon to eat the oatmeal- or at least, that's what he had convinced himself. He could function just fine, really.

He was the only guest that wasn't actually eating anything, which was of course a rare sight- that everyone had an appetite, and that Devin himself wasn't scarfing something down.

Simul's brief appearance to make them breakfast was silent and awkward, but it thankfully hadn't lasted more than ten seconds. She hadn't even looked any of them in the eye. But the seconds that she had appeared were enough to start a conversation about her, one that Devin couldn't have participated in even if he wasn't so tired. He thought it was quite ambitious of the guests to assume he was able to understand exactly what was happening. He was okay with feeling a little lost... but he wasn't very excited about being left out.

Once breakfast had been finished, the guests dispersed to go to their magic lessons, which breezed by just as well as they had been for the past couple of days. They did notice that the elemental instructors weren't quite as enthusiastic as they had been in previous days. The guests assumed maybe it was because they had finally gotten used to where their skills were at, and thought nothing of it; they had bigger concerns, after all.

the elemental instructors were of course keeping their eyes on the students now that they knew what they had gotten themselves involved with, and that they needed to be stopped. It was weird, how differently they saw their students knowing what might be fueling their good progress with their abilities.

After their lessons, the guests didn't have to make an agreement... they all went downstairs to the entrance hall and met up, ready to discuss what they were going to try and discover next. Their single notebook paper full of their questions had become a stack over the course of day 12, one or two authors turning into eleven. Even Devin, still confused about everything, had become a part of it. The Mystery had become something all of them were involved with- something Caspian pointed out to them.

"Huh! That's kind of neat, actually... in the beginning, we thought we could never tell anyone about what was going on, thinking too much about negative consequences. But really, this is just... pretty great, you know?" Porcelain pointed out. She smiled in a way she hadn't for a while- not fake, not pure enjoyment like the day spent outside... it was soft, a little sad, a little lonely, and all sincere. It was a small sliver of something real when they couldn't tell what exactly was real.

"Anyways... I'm glad we can do this together, that's all." She finished with a shrug, still smiling.

"Aww... that's actually pretty sweet, Porcelain!" Bean said.

"A-hem," Reese said pointedly. "Back to the show..." Bean mumbled something about party poopers. Reese chose to ignore her. Who would have thought... of the three who originally knew about the Mystery, Reese would become the most serious about what was going on. 

they did do as Reese said, and starting looking at their options. They could go out to the fence anyways and disobey Simul, with the possibility of safety measures she had set up for them still on the table; they could scour the castle itself for clues and use whatever information they got that way, if any, to decide what they should do next; or they could mull over what they knew right then and there, trying to figure out new piece to the puzzle themselves. It was certain they were going to find out more, but the issue was they still didn't know what "more" was, or what they were going to do with it. They consulted their pile of notes, seeing if what they had written would point them in the right direction.

"The fact is," Alex announced, looking from one piece of paper to another, "We don't know what the fence is or what it does. We don't know what information it could give us, nor do we know what information we need. We only know that Simul told us it was dangerous to involve ourselves at all, but specifically that we shouldn't go back to the fence. However, we've also decided that Simul isn't to be trusted in terms of this mystery and what it has to do with the murderer because of her alliance with them."

"So what kind of conclusion are you trying to draw with that? What do we want to do with that information?" Catsquill asked. Alex looked up from the notes in her lap.

"I don't know," she replied simply. "I'm just laying out the information we have that concerns the decision we're trying to make."

Wren rubbed the bridge of her nose, elbows on her thighs. Beside her, Catsquill sighed heavily and flopped down on the ground. All of them were feeling rather overwhelmed.

Reese started thinking about Marigold. Unlike Alex, her thoughts on whether or not to go back to the fence were influenced by feelings, not fact. Marigold had a bad feeling about the fence. They still didn't know exactly what it was they were discovering. Reese remembered Marigold's suspicions of it... her reluctance to go back... and she started thinking about what she knew.

Gracia wanted to tell Marigold and Agent Winter something.

Agent Winter went out to the fence and found herself thinking the words "ski lodge".

Someone was interrogating the murderer, and the ski lodges came back. The two were related.

Marigold stood at the fence and found they had to go beyond it.

When Reese did, she was met with ghosts.

Through the clue about ghosts, they made the connection between the ski lodges and the Chatterbox...

The Chatterbox. That seemed like a pretty important clue...

Across from her, the murderer tried not to stare. They could feel Reese, mulling over what she knew, wandering into some dangerous territories. they knew about the Chatterbox, but not much about it. The murderer knew they desperately needed to keep it that way, but how on Earth could they manage that...?

Reese was definitely right- the bit about the Chatterbox was very important. What did she know? She knew the ghosts came back there, because they didn't really die... the Chatterbox was where they went back to. Why?

Well, that's easy, Reese thought. That's where... I... live? And that's where the ski lodges start... and... hey! Wait!

No! WAIT!

But the murderer knew it was too late.

Reese jumped up from the ground with a triumphant grin on her face. She didn't notice the murderer glaring at her. All she knew was that she was from the Chatterbox, and it was important. 

Day twelve, part two (and I'm sorry about the spamming, Admins!)

The churning in Simul's stomach and the tsunami in her head told her that the guests were well on their way towards some other forbidden pieces of knowledge- but how? The murderer hadn't said a thing, so the elemental instructors were still in the castle, waiting for her signal. If the guests has gone to the fence, Simul thought angrily, it was entirely the murderer's fault...

Then Simul's anger faded, remembering everything she knew about the murderer. About the stress that was upon them... about the truth they were trying to protect... about their determination to keep their fellow guests away from the fence, and what it would mean for them if worse did come to worst. Simul tried to take a deep breath and clear her head. It was very possible the guests didn't need the fence to figure out whatever they just pieced together...

But that wouldn't be any comfort at all! That would mean the guests are so focused on the Mystery and understood it well enough that they could start to figure out certain things by themselves. Simul began to panic once again. Whatever happened, it wasn't good.

Simul also knew, however, that contacting the murderer wouldn't be a good idea since they were almost certainly with the other guests. They would immediately knew who the murderer is... and that would do them no favors.

Simul, unaware of where she was (a wide hallway lined with large portraits), started pacing and staring at the elaborate carpet with her fingers digging into her temples. She started muttering to herself in a mix of English and Latin. It was lucky none of the elemental instructors found her... it would have been an odd sight, and an awkward meeting.

After many minutes of this, Simul decided it would be best to face the guests once again, and explain why the fence wasn't to be messed with and its secrets had to be kept. The thought made her stomach do backflips, but in the end she figured it was the only way to stop them. If they had a reason why they should follow her rule, Simul figured, it wold be easier to follow it... but at the same time, they didn't trust her, and her reason could only make them even more determined to defy her. Simul seemed to be running out of luck.

~~~~~

The murderer sat with their jaw clenched and hands balled into fists, pretending to be listening to Reese and the others talking about this new epiphany of theirs- they lived in, and belonged to, the Chatterbox, and so did the ski lodges. The murderer, having known this, was unimpressed, but knew the significance of everyone around them knowing about it- they weren't supposed to. They weren't supposed to know any of it. But they did, and it wasn't like the murderer could take the knowledge from their minds and cast it away like their mistakes never happened.

They blamed themselves. It was all from a moment of weakness that Gracia found out, after all, and that's what started all of it. The murderer knew they couldn't control the Mystery, and they definitely couldn't control what it was doing to them, but another thing they couldn't control was their guilt. It wasn't voluntarily that the murderer became what they were, or did what they did; it wasn't voluntarily that they pinned all the blame of the guests' findings on themselves.

Still around the murderer, there was an explosive conversation taking place. they snapped back to attention and once again donned a mask, trying their best to blend in after their moment of unawareness.

"Reese, I just don't understand why this is so important!" Catsquill almost shouted. "We knew this already... well, kind of. Sort of. Not really.."

"EXACTLY!" Reese shouted back. "It's like, we knew in the back of our heads that yeah, we're CBers, we're AEs. But, like, we didn't REALLY know it! We didn't really, actually know!"

"Can I mention just one more time HOW CONFUSED I AM?" Devin shouted.

"What does iitt mean forr usss?" Nihil asked.

"That's a great question! Unfortunately, I have no idea," Reese replied with enthusiasm no-one could tell was feigned.

"Add it to the list," Bean suggested.

"Wwee rann outt offf room agan," Mor sighed.

"I'll go get more paper," Caspian volunteered.

"We still have to figure out what we want to do about the fence," Darkking mumbled.

"Darkking's right," Porcelain chimed in, loud enough for everyone to hear her. "We do need to figure out whether or not we're going to the fence."

"It seems like every time we find some kind of answers, we also come up with another dozen questions," Wren pointed out.

"So what are you suggesting?" Catsquill asked.

"Nothing," Wren responded shyly."I was just pointing it out..."

"It was a good point, I think," Alex said, standing up. "my main question is: what are we doing? What are we searching for? What are our goals, and why are we so determined to go behind Simul's back, when she has done nothing to physically hurt us, and in fact has been protecting us throughout the vacation?

"It does seem to me that, the more we sit and talk together, the more we confuse ourselves. I can't tell if it's progress or not- asking questions is good, but we have no idea if we'll ever get answers. What I think we need is a definitive goal. It's easier to achieve something if you know what you're trying to achieve. We can plan and understand what we're doing better after we figure out what we're after."

Alex resumed her spot on the floor, looking around at her fellow guests, who were now all looking at her. All of them were coming to the same realization: she was totally right. When you set out to do something, you know what it is that you want to do; you don't just blindly go through the motions that will take you there, hoping to find yourself getting whatever it is you want.

"That definitely was more than just your main question," Devin pointed out. Alex gave him a stink eye, which made him shut his mouth promptly.

"You made lots of good point there," Porcelain agreed. "But it does really just raise one more question: how are we going to find out what we're looking for?"

"The fence?" Reese suggested.

Caspian entered the room once again, just as Wren was asking, "Could you explain what exactly the fence does again? Maybe we could see, you know, from what we know about it, if we could get some more specific information about it..."

So Reese re-explained how the fence had given them information in the past... some vague kind of force that could be felt around them, that somehow just plopped some answers into their minds and planted the seeds that lead to their current operation.

"And I have no idea how it works or really how it happened," Reese concluded. Nihil furrowed her brow, and Catsquill nodded slowly, biting his lip.

"Okay," Alex said slowly. "So it sounds like... huh. I'm stumped. You're right, though...I think the best way to figure out what's going on with the fence and whatever concerns it is to face the fence itself."

"See? I told you!" Reese declared proudly.

Multiple people threw her a dirty look, but ultimately they all knew she was right- about the fence, and about her telling them so. 

As the guests began to get ready to go out, one of them slipped into a broom closet to contact Simul. Simul didn't ask about the new secret the had just discovered, and instead prepared herself to send the magic instructors to the fence, using a kind of magic she hand't yet tried at Magicae Palace- teleportation. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated as hard as she could on the elemental instructors and where she wanted them to be... around the fence.

She only realized she hadn't forewarned the instructors until after she had teleoprted them.

Oops. 

Day twelve, part three

Teleportation, as the five elemental instructors came to find out, came with a very odd sensation and a little discomfort. The worst part of it was the disorientation, though that might have come from the lack of warning that was given to them before they were transported to different spots around the fence. One moment, all of them were just minding their own business, wandering halls and chatting with each other, then they were being sucked up into a confusing whirlwind of color and sound and then- well, you get the idea.

What was important was that they were there, ready to stop the guests from doing anything they weren't supposed to be doing. However, they had no means of communication with each other, Simul, or the murderer, and they couldn't see each other, and didn't know where the guests would be going. They were willing to do their jobs, but they hadn't been prepared so well.

Many yards away from the confused and uneasy instructors, all eleven vacationers marched through the woods, taking the one path Reese was most used to. The murderer, hanging around at the back of the group, whispered into their walkie-talkie, trying to communicate to Simul where exactly the group was headed. Per the murderer's words, Simul started to teleport the instructors to the right region of the woods, placing them close enough that they could see each other and help each other if needed. The guests started to get closer to their own teachers, not knowing they had instructions to stop them at all costs- not even knowing they were there.

The murderer was the only one who knew about the tension that was building up around the group of intrepid, ignorant guests. the murderer was the only one who knew who- and what- they would find at the fence.

The murderer was the only one who knew that everyone around them was in danger, and that they were putting themselves into it.

but the murderer continued to walk along behind everyone, not saying anything. It wasn't like they had a choice. And it wasn't like they could halt the agonizing steps of all ten of the others- Reese, Bean, and Porcelain, who had brought the Mystery to all of the guests in the first place; Alex, Wren- they would all keep walking on. And so would the murderer.

Porcelain, who had taken the lead, was the one to find Terra standing before the fence. Ingus and Caeli were on either side of him, though Porcelain couldn't see them.

"Terra!" she exclaimed, her surprise evident. "What are you doing here? And... how did you get here?"

A flurry of conversation went through the small crowd of Chatterboxers like a wind blowing through the trees and rustling their leaves. In this case, the leaves would be the guests' suspicions. Terra's presence at the fence just as they planned to climb over it was no coincidence.

"I could ask you the same thing," Terra replied. His eyes met those of all eleven of the vacationers. He still had no idea which one of them was the murderer... which pair of eyes had looked into those of twenty-one victims. He wondered, briefly, if he would ever know. Then he snapped back to attention. "What are you doing here? All together, at the fence, which was put up to protect you? What business do you have here?"

Terra's no-nonsense personality and firm manor of teaching established what might have been authority... if the guests were in any mood to do as they were told. They had been consumed by a fire that was fueled by desire... and Simul's instructions to stop, an attempt to throw water onto the flames, had the affect of throwing water onto a grease fire. What was supposed to help and minimize the problem only made it grow.

Reese approached Terra, followed by Porcelain, Bean, and Alex- though Reese was the only one who was feeling very confident. Ingus watched them carefully, inching closer.

Terra narrowed his eyes. "You were told not to come here," he reminded them firmly.

In response, Reese cocked her head to the side and planted her hands on her hips, looking Terra straight in the eyes. "Why? We should be allowed to come. Before just a few days ago, we weren't given any rules about what we can and can't do out here."

"Simul is in charge here," Terra said loudly. Wren seemed to shrink, and Mor clutched Darkking's leg. The CBer put a comforting hand on his CAPTCHA's head, watching the conversation play out. "She gets to decide what you can and can't do, regardless of when. She said you can't come here anymore, so that's that."

"We don't mean to cause any trouble," Bean said, giving Reese a firm look.

"Oh, really?" Ingus questioned, stepping out from her hiding place. "It doesn't look that way to me. And I don't take too kindly to trouble-makers."

"Is that a threat?" Porcelain asked.

"That depends," Caeli replied, emerging from Terra's other side. "If you don't do anything worth Ingus's attention, she won't need to threaten."

"So my progress in class isn't 'worth her attention'?" Devin called. Nobody laughed; even his jokes couldn't lighten the mood.

"What will happen to us if we get any closer to that fence?" Alex puzzled.

"You won't," Terra replied shortly.  "I want you all to leave. Now." Almost in unison, Caeli and Ingus took a few steps towards Terra until the three of them formed a sort of barrier between the CBers and the fence. Reese glanced back at the others, who were all looking at her. She made eye contact with Caspian, a question in his eyes, and Catsquill, who by the look on his face had some kind of plan.

"We're going to talk for a minute, but we're not going anywhere," Reese announced. The three instructors shared a glance and said nothing, but watched the vacationers carefully as they gathered in a circle to discuss the situation.

"I have a plan," Catsquill said. "Or at least, part of a plan."

"How much of a plan?" Darkking asked.

"Like... 67% of a plan," Catsquill admitted.

"I think we'll take it," Alex hissed. "Break it down for us."

So Catsquill, conscious of Terra, Ingus, and Caeli boring holes into the back of his neck with their stares, whispered his plan to the others. After he was done, they took a bit of time to consider it, then decided it sounded like their best option.

Caspian, who was their designated spokesperson, stood up and cleared his throat. "We've decided that you're right... in the end. We'll go back, for now. But you can't expect us to trust Simul. Or not change our minds about this."

Ingus raised an eyebrow. She didn't but their story, nor did Terra. Caeli, though, was inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. They did know, without needing to speak a single word, that they had to let the group go... but they also had to be alert, and prepared for sudden teleportation.

Together, the eleven guests all started to slowly walk away, making sure to grumble and look disappointed. Nihil mumbled something about being able to take on Caeli if she had been given the chance. Porcelain patted her CAPTCHA's head, just as Darkking had done with Mor. Terra, Ingus and Caeli watched them slowly, and even considered following them... but decided it would be better for them to remain in the same position. If they needed it move, Simul would do it for them.

Three CBers, six AEs, and two CAPTCHAs had walked to the fence that day... and they came back to the palace without any more information than they had left with.

In the few minutes that they mulled around outside the castle doors, the murderer contacted Simul. They didn't, however, tell her the guests' real plan, as they would have if they been in their right mind.

It was happening again, where the Mystery took hold... but in a way it wasn't supposed to. In the way that it wanted the murderer to break the rules, just as the others wanted to break them. It was the faulty, broken bits of the Mystery that made the murderer use their walkie-talkie and tell Simul her plan with the elemental instructors had worked, and the guests had given up.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure; just look out a window. We're all just hanging out in front of the castle..."

Simul lifted up a curtain and peered out a window. Sure enough, the guests were all sitting about, looking like they had no place to go.

"Oh! Wow! ....well then. Yay us!"

Simul's voice crackled and died out. The murderer lowered their walkie-talkie with a rather sinister grin on their face... a grin that was not their own.

Moments later, Nihil gave Catsquill a nod from the shadows at the edge of the forest. Catsquill then turned and gave the rest of them the signal. Devin scrambled forward, and he was followed by Reese, Darkking, Mor, Porcelain, Alex, Bean, Caspian, and Wren. they had come to be a rather good team.

One among them was struggling inside. None of the others noticed, but the murderer was trying to fight the crazy urge to chase after the same well-kept secret their companions were unknowingly getting dangerously close to. The Mystery had let up enough for the murderer to become aware of its presence, but not enough for the murderer to fight it... or enough for them to remember what they had told Simul.

The stretch of fence they all were approaching was unguarded and full of truth. With every step they took, they were getting farther and farther away from ignorance... and coming towards a fate that would alter a future they didn't even know was ahead of them. 

Day twelve, part four (kind of a short part, but an important one!)

There were a few minutes spent in that suspense- the looming threat and invitation of the fence, the determination of the vacationers to grasp what they could not, the struggle of the murderer against the Mystery- it continued to build in the last few minutes between the guests and the fence. And now, they had come to an end and given way to an entirely new kind of thrill- the sight of the fence itself.

At this point, the murderer was in a panic. They had finally managed to shake off the evil that had taken hold of them, but by that time it would be impossible to contact Simul and tell her what was really going on without the murderer revealing themselves to the others. At this point, the murderer couldn't care less if the others knew who they were... but they knew their identity would reveal something, and with the Mystery in its fragile state, the murderer knew it couldn't take a blow like that. So now they were left with the consequences... Reese was already halfway up the fence, climbing like she had done it a million times....

Alex was behind Reese, though she hadn't begun to climb yet. She didn't fear what she might find beyond it... just the means of getting there. Most everyone was giving her words of reassurance. Alex eventually figured this was the price she had to pay for definitive answers to her questions. She took a deep breath and began, awkwardly, to climb.

Reese once again felt it... the force of the Mystery, but this time she was ready- or at least, just as ready as she was going to get. The feeling, that indescribable pressure, still took her breath away and filled her with a kind of fear she couldn't place.... but this time, she was tough enough to face it, and to deal with it. Alex, however, hadn't been warned about the creepy sensation, or even about how precarious it was to jump down from the fence.

The murderer, still on the other side, was frantically trying to contact Simul without anyone else noticing, but they couldn't find a place where they would still be in view of the others but wouldn't draw their suspicions. And... it looked like they were too late to salvage the situation anyways... the fact that two of them had gotten over the fence almost guaranteed the murderer's failure...

Alex landed on the other side of the fence in a painful heap, but the force of the Mystery around her muffled the voices of her friends asking if she was okay... she barely noticed Reese beside her, looking frantically from side to side... Alex swore she could hear the questions rushing around inside Reese's head...

Both of the AEs found they were frozen in place- by what, they had no idea. Behind them, the others had gone silent, but the two didn't know if that was real, or if it was just their imagination. Dimly, Alex was realizing why Reese and the others hadn't come up with a clear plan or figured out where this adventure was taking them... they had no control over what happened beyond the fence. How on Earth was she supposed to discover what she wanted, when she didn't even have control over her own body?

Reese tried to tell Alex something... something about the kind of questions she had to ask... but the words in her throat felt all sticky, and they refused to move. No, she just had to concentrate on herself. Then, maybe, she would get some kind of answers...

Various thoughts poke and prodded at the AEs, wondering, out of all of them, which ones could- and would- enter the minds of one or both of the guests. After some debate, it was a small thought, just a single word, that was brave enough to slither into Alex's consciousness. 

The single word was perhaps the most important clue the guests would receive. It was the reassurance Alex had been searching for. It brought everything they already knew together and made it possible to learn more.

Mystery.

~~~~~

As there had been with every clue, conversation followed. Triumph pumping through Reese's exclamations, questions stirring in Darkking's head, authority strong in Alex's voice, pain coursing through every particle in the murderer's shattered body and mind. Hurt and disbelief filling Simul, leaving no room for anger. The morning sailed along a stormy sea of questions coming in waves, confusion a storm blowing through their fragile sail... and they braved it all, cresting every wave with majesty, standing tall and firm when the wind threatened to knock them down. Despair and twisted anger thrashed about in the murderer's tortured mind as they sat and listened to their friends discuss their greatest new finding. All the guests who had brought notebooks found themselves ripping out the pages containing their own thoughts and feelings to contribute the blank space to their new adventure and discoveries... to the Mystery.

Alex had requested they find out where they were going, what they were searching for... and this was it. The Mystery. It answered so many questions, and the ones it brought up, the group felt like they could handle. As they had before, the eleven stayed together all morning and talked. Now, it was even easier to feel good, and like they were having fun; their progress could be seen and mapped out, and they knew where they were going with it. The Mystery shifted their thoughts and feeling about everything they were coming to know. It was, after all, the heart of it... the beginning and end of everything they had surrounded themselves with.

Time was crawling, then soaring, then it no longer existed; the vacationers found themselves in a strange, almost perceptible limbo. By the time lunch was in front of them, they couldn't tell if the hours felt fast, or slow, or some combination of the two- it definitely didn't feel normal. The murderer wondered if that was a side-effect of what had been discovered; they were beginning to fear their headache would never go away, and they found themselves under the influence of the Mystery's malfunction more and more.

When Simul arrived to give them lunch, they acted like she wasn't there at all. She entered, waved her hand and made the food appear, and then left- though she did give the murderer a glance before exiting. None of the guests really felt any anger towards her... though they were confused. Why shouldn't they know about the Mystery? Why was she protecting it so fiercely? They agreed that they would confront her... sometime.

By the time magic lessons rolled around, the guests felt like they understood exactly what they were doing. They had even forgotten about their confrontation with the instructors that morning... and the awkward moments that brought during their lessons. Terra was silent through almost the entire class period, watching Caspian, Darkking, and Catsquill very closely. Ingus kept making sarcastic comments that reminded Mor and Devin about what had happened. Caeli tried, and failed, to make the lesson normal for Nihil, Porcelain, and Reese. Only Alex, Bean, and Wren escaped the feeling, as their instructors hadn't been involved with the conflict.

After the lessons, some of the guests decided to continue talking to each other and discussing the Mystery, but some didn't know of much else they could say on the matter and went their own ways. Two of these who split away from the main group were the Interrogator and the interrogated. They met by chance in a hallway. the interrogator gave the other a nod, but to their surprise, they stopped the interrogator to talk.

"So, about that whole business with the... interrogations," they started, but didn't get very far before the interrogator interrupted them.

"Look, I just want to say I'm sorry about that. I don't really know what I was after. I guess I just thought I'd be all heroic if I discovered who the murderer was. You really didn't deserve what I did there. So, uh... no hard feelings?" The interrogator held out a hopeful hand for them to shake.

The other considered their hand for a second, then, hesitatingly, took it. "I was pretty upset with you at first," they admitted, "But now... it just... doesn't seem to matter quite so much. You know? We've just discovered a mystery that seems to matter so much more than who the murderer is."

"Yeah! I sort of feel silly for not seeing it before... and, hey, while I'm confessing stuff, I kind of feel bad for the murderer," the interrogator admitted in a rushed sort of way.

"Why's that?"

"I dunno... I guess I've been thinking about what Simul said, about how the murderer's suffering... since we know she's working with them, we can probably be sure she isn't lying about that. I know the murderer's connected to the Mystery- because of what Reese said about Winter finding that connection between the murderer and ski lodges, you know?- and what we're finding out really is hurting them."

The interrogator watched the other ponder their words. "Huh... yeah. I guess that's something I never put a whole lot of thought into. Of course... Simul did say what we were doing was hurting them. Why do you think that is? I mean, it's a good point, that the murderer's somehow linked with the Mystery... but why would this put them in pain?"

The interrogator thought for a moment. Simul's determination that the guests not go near the fence... the fact that they were unearthing facts about the Mystery... and... oh...

"Because... we're hurting the Mystery."

There was a stunned silence. Then the second guest, the one who no longer feared the interrogator, said, "we have to talk to Simul." 

Day twelve, part five

The two hurried through the vast hallways of the palace, searching for the one person they knew had answers... wondering how many apologies they owed her.

Little did they know, the two would be stumbling upon her conversation with the murderer via walkie-talkie.

A conversation that involved the death of Caspian.

They gathered that it included one of the traps that had been set up what seemed like forever ago- sandbags that dropped from the ceiling. But that wasn't the only thing Simul and the murderer had to discuss; the Mystery worked its way into their words many times. The two guests didn't discover anything new, thankfully... but they gave Simul a really terrible fright when she turned the corner to find them there, one whispering, "Well... now you know I'm not the murderer..."

In fact, she was so startled, she screamed loudly enough to almost make their ears ring, and she threw her walkie-talkie over her shoulder. They could hear it clattering on the stone floor in the moments that followed the shrill scream. Then, there was silence.

Silence that lasted for about half a second. "What did you two hear?" Simul demanded.

"Caspian's dead? Is that true?" They questioned in reply.

Simul sighed. "Yes. I'm sorry. What else did you hear?"

"Nothing that we didn't already know," the interrogator said. Simul was relieved for a moment, before she realized they could very well be lying to her, and she had no idea how to tell if they were. 

Before she could try to ask, one of them said, "Simul, we have something to ask you about."

"Is it the Mystery?" she asked, not knowing if she was being sarcastic or not.

"Yeah, actually... but we think that we... that is, all of the guests... that we were wrong about something."

That definitely piqued Simul's interest. "Go on," she urged.

Awkwardly, the two explained their realization and the questions they now had. Simul nodded along as they talked, trying not to show her emotions. Inwardly, she was celebrating that the two had come around, while also cursing the others for not having come to the same conclusions.

She gave them a smile once they had finished. "Well, I'm glad you've started to think this way. Yes, what you're doing isn't great for the Mystery. Guests at ski lodges aren't typically supposed to know about the Mystery at all. That is why the fence went up, and why I've been acting weird- and, yeah, pretty much the reason why I've been working with the murderer."

"How did the murderer know about this stuff before the rest of us? Was it something to do with the fence?"

Simul didn't see the point in denying it. "Yeah."

"How much of this can we tell the others?"

"If you think you can convince them not to go back, or keep sticking their noses in places they don't belong, then please go ahead. I doubt they'll trust anything I try to tell them. But, guys... even you two don't understand how important it is that nobody learn any more than they have. The things that will result won't be good for any of us here. Alright?"

The two nodded. They were both a little stunned at everything that had just happened- between their own realization, the things Simul had told them... and Caspian's death! Somehow, the threat of the murderer had been pushed to the back of their minds. Now it was back again, right in their faces, in a way it hadn't been for a while... Estrella was the last one to be killed before they all started becoming involved with the Mystery, and Caspian had been the first one since. It felt like weeks had passed, not days. 

The interrogator suggested they all start going to dinner together. Simul was surprised to find it was about that time already- as she put it, "time today was really slow... until I realized just how fast it was!" She waited a few seconds after the two walked into the dining room to do so herself- there would be no way the other guests would trust them if they thought she might have talked to them. 

Simul's appearance was just as quick as it had been the last couple of meals- and didn't even include a glance at the murderer, or any of the other guests. After she closed the door behind her, however, she opted to stay and listen to what they were saying, waiting for the moment where the Mystery would be discussed. She didn't have to wait very long; it had long since been established as the go-to conversation starter. It also didn't take very long for one of the two guests Simul had encountered to clear their throat and begin the conversation about what they'd just discovered.

"Alright, I've got something to propose to you all," they began, but they were quickly interrupted.

"Since you two weren't here for this, I guess I'll just have to tell you... Caspian died." Simul couldn't tell who the speaker was.

"...Oh, no!" the interrogator cried. Under the table, they crossed their fingers, hoping the others would buy their sub-par acting abilities.

"Yeah," the miserable reply came. "It just felt unexpected... which is weird, right? We should have seen this coming."

"It stinks," someone added sympathetically.

"Hey, guys, look... there's something we'd like to say about the Mystery."

"Ooh, really? What have you got?"

"Well, er... we were talking through some things Simul said... you know, about the Mystery, and the murderer... and we came to this realization. We've been thinking about how we're going to learn about the Mystery, but we've never considered what we might be doing to the Mystery itself..."

There was a silence thick with confusion. "Could you explain some more?"

"What we're discovering is hurting the Mystery."

Another pause. "...Isn't that kind of what Simul tried to tell us? Just before we figured out she's working with the murderer?"

"Sort of... she couldn't tell us the Mystery is being hurt, could she? We wouldn't-"

"No, no- how can we be sure that stuff wasn't a lie?"

"Because we figured it out, the same way we put together the pieces of being from the Chatterbox," the interrogator explained.

"And, we figured... why would Simul lie about what she knew about the murderer, if she knew it could lead to us knowing she's working with the murderer?"

Simul cheered silently. In truth, their points were too good for the others to ignore. The question did still remain, however...would everyone take their advice, and stop poking around at the Mystery?

"What are you saying?"

"Okay, well... it doesn't seem like a good idea to... keep trying to learn more about the Mystery when we know we're destroying it." the interrogator's words that were supposed to be full of heart landed weakly, and didn't do any favors for them; in fact, it made most of the guests skeptical.

"Did Simul talk to you? Oh, my gosh. Simul totally talked to you." Outside, Simul bit her lip.

"We went to her!" one of the two exploded- the one who had been interrogated. "We realized that we were wrong, and we went to talk to her. Voluntarily. Just because she's been working with the murderer doesn't mean she lied to us about everything!"

"Sshe isnt rong," a CAPTCHA said quietly.

Simul heard someone's utensil clatter on the table.

"Guys... we know Simul. She wouldn't have a reason to lie to us about what we're doing to the Mystery. What would she be achieving in holding us back that wouldn't be to protect us?"

Another pause, this one longer and more intense that the others. It was broken by someone saying, "Why don't we talk about this more tomorrow? And you two can tell us exactly what she said. Then we can figure out what we want to do."

"I feel like we're always trying to figure out what we want to do..."

"How is this even a question? We can't stop now!"

"We also can't go on!"

"Stop it!" A frustrated sigh. "We'll work it out. Tomorrow. Right now, I'm hungry..."

And so, as the argument ceased and Simul backed away from the dining room door, a gap appeared between the guests. Should they carry on and finish what they'd started, or should they trust Simul's word and stop, for the good of the ski lodge? Sides would be chosen... choices would be made... fates would be sealed.

The night of the twelfth day, however, sealed only one fate of the ten, and it was that of Alex. She caught the murderer alone during one of their bad phases. They had a knife. Alex did not live to see the morning. She was buried late at night, along with Caspian. The eleven that had gone to the fence that morning had been shaved down to nine.

After the funeral, everyone went to bed- it was cold there at night, so everyone was shivering and ready to curl up in their warm beds. For one, this wasn't an option. They went to bed with the rest, but the tide of the Mystery kept rolling in and crashing on the shores of their consciousness. They found themselves pacing in a library, waiting for the moment where they were no longer in control. They knew what had to be done, and that it had to be done quickly. The possibilities of what the Mystery could do through them were, at this point, endless- and horrifying. If Magicae Palace was to be saved, none of them could happen. The murderer had to devise a plan that would distract everyone from the Mystery, but would be so villainous that it would be carried out no matter what was going on inside their mind...

~~~~~

Boo says "bynyx" Bye, Nyx? Nyx isn't in this ski lodge... 

Alright lovelies, here it is... the two year anniversary. I'm going to post day 13, parts 1, 2, & 3 as one big blob soon here.

A forewarning to the Admins: I'll be posting lots of long posts pretty much all throughout the day like I did yesterday. If's that's inconvenient, I'm sorry in advance. (I love you and you're great thankyou <3)

Dear CBers, AEs and CAPTCHAs,

You’ve made it to the final days of your stay at Magicae Palace. Along the way, you’ve encountered some things you shouldn’t have. You've taken the vacation you were given… and turned it into the last thing it was ever meant to be. You’ve learned magic. You’ve played games with each other. You played games from me. And now, it’s time for the last of them. (And do keep in mind I put a lot of work into this one, so your best efforts are appreciated. Not that you have a choice.)

Unlike the other games I have designed, this game does not require your academic skill- nor does it play directly into my hands. No, this is a trial of your loyalty, and your determination to survive. In it, you will be faced with few choices, and yet some of them will still make you regret your decision.

You will go through a series of trials- the first as a whole group, some in smaller groups, and some on your own. Some you will be able to survive… and some you will not. You’ll see what I mean in a few minutes- everything is explained in the stack of notes.

Remember your places, Chatterboxers.

The note had no signature, but everyone knew who it was from. It was found on the back of the dining room door, just after they’d finished eating breakfast. The stack of notes referenced in the letter was quickly found in a neat pile in the corner of the entrance hall. Darkking picked up the first note. Reese snatched the rest of the stack from his hand and started looking through them.

“Could I see those?” Catsquill asked Reese, already reaching out one of his hands for them.

“Why don’t we all take a few, and figure it out together?” suggested Bean.

“Wait a minute!” Reese exclaimed. Catsquill took the opportunity to snatch a few from her hands and pass them around. “Guys, come look at this note!”

The other flocked around Reese, craning their necks to get a good look at the note. There were seven numbers on it, all typed, and an eighth in the right-hand corner that seemed to have been written in pen- the number one.

“4-21-14-7-5-15-14,” Porcelain read aloud.

“I think it’s one of those things that it’s like, a word spelled in numbers,” Reese explained.

“Right! An they correspond to their place in the alphabet!” Wren said triumphantly. There was flurry of CBers counting or humming their ABCs. Once someone figured out a letter, it was hastily scrawled on the note beneath its number. It only took a few minutes for them to figure out the message said “dungeon.”

“Ther esaa dunn geon?” Mor questioned.

“Well, apparently…” Darkking said. “Unless this is some kind of trick?”

“No, I’m pretty sure there is one… I think I heard Caspian mention it once,” Devin said.

“Didd hhee sayy wher ittt wass?” Nihil asked.

“No…”

“Why don’t we go through all of these cards before we start searching for it? Then we can see what’s going on,” Bean suggested.

Each of them took a note or two and examined it. They quickly found that all of them had a number in the bottom right corner that seemed to be its card number- there were four in total. Three of them had the same coded numbers the first one did, and the group started to unscramble them- they read “popcorn room”, “Sea Glass”, and “craft room”.

The other cards told who was in each group, what the number of the group was, and how that would correspond to the numbers on the cards with the location names.

“Why couldn’t they have said all this stuff on the main note?” Wren questioned.

Catsquill shrugged. “They’re a murderer; it’s not like they’re making a whole lot of sense.” And nobody could deny the truth in that.

The notes stated that all of the guests would first go together to the popcorn room. Before they could go, however, the elemental instructors entered the entrance hall from different hallways and staircases.

“What are you all doing here?” Ingus snapped. “Lessons started twenty minutes ago.”

Even as the words came out of her mouth, though, she started to catch on- all of them on the floor, surrounded by random pieces of paper, their faces with the look of a group of people resigned to the worst…

“I’m sorry… it’s another game, isn’t it.”

A silent nod.

Vita sighed, frustrated. “I wish we could help you.”

“We wish you could too,” Wren replied. “But we wouldn’t want the murderer to hurt you.”

“Where are you headed to, do you know?” Terra asked.

“Popcorn room,” Devin said, proud of himself for contributing.

“Then we also have to go to the dungeon, the craft room, and we think the room that Sea Glass was captured in,” Porcelain added. (That made Devin feel like his thunder had been stolen.)

“Okay, well… do you think it would be best for us to stay away from those areas, then?” Aqua inquired.

Darkking raised his eyebrows at Catsquill and Porcelain. The latter nodded, while the former shrugged. “I think so,” DK confirmed.

The instructors nodded and, together, left. The guests eyed each other uneasily, then got up and headed back into the dining room, and through it, the popcorn room. The moment Mor closed the door behind her, however, the room locked itself, and no-one could find a way to open it. So they were stuck with whatever the murderer had in store. The realization didn’t exactly surprise them, but it did seem to confirm something they had been fearing- what, they weren’t quite sure.

There was still a table set up against the opposite stone wall as there had been before, but now, it wasn’t covered in popcorn machines and random condiments- Darkking felt a mixture of happiness, nostalgia, and disappointment to see the mustard had disappeared along with the rest of it. There were other objects laid out in place of the popcorn- a rubber ball, a ruler, a notebook, a plastic bag, an eraser, and a plastic stick. In the middle of them was yet another note.

I’m assuming all of you know how to make venn diagrams, yes?

You are to compare each of the objects to all of the others using venn diagrams. On each side, you are to use two adjectives for each object, but you need only one that describes them both. If you do this correctly, you should end up with 15 diagrams. There is a catch, however- you can’t reuse any adjectives, from any other diagrams. I’ve provided pencils and papers in the corner of the room. Every single one of us is required to make all 15 diagrams. You should be glad I've started you with an easy one. 

Devin groaned. “Why would they make us work like this? It doesn’t even do anything for them. And it’s not fun.”

Catsquill told him to shush, but secretly, everyone agreed with him. What was the point of this at all?

The few seconds spent wondering about the murderer’s intentions were quickly followed by the minutes used to work on their venn diagrams. There was no point in questioning what was going on- they had to simply go with it and do it. Reese quickly became frustrated, wondering how a plastic bag and a notebook could possibly be similar. Devin was frustrated trying to make circles that looked like circles. Porcelain was frustrated with the idea that the murderer was definitely up to something suspicious and deadly- making venn diagrams? Really? There was no way that could be the end to their plots. Still, the nine went through the movements and created their diagrams, like students working in class- though the CBer’s “class” was very silent, subdued, and small. They finished without much complaint or chatter, and when they tried the door, they found it had been unlocked somehow. They left the venn diagrams in the popcorn room, then consulted the murderer’s letters for what to do next.

It took a minute, but they found instructions for each group on the back of the letter they found in the popcorn room. The three groups- Porcelain, Nihil, and Wren; Devin, Catsquill, and Bean; and Darkking, Mor, and Reese- were each given special instructions of what they were to do when they got to their rooms. Porcelain’s group was to go to the craft room, Bean’s group to the dungeons, and Darkking’s group to the room where Sea Glass had been held captive what felt like years ago. Then, they copied the instructions from the back of the note onto the ones that held the names of their destinations, so they wouldn't forget what they were supposed to be doing.

“This is so confusing!” Devin groaned.

“Mabe that wass thhe poit,” Nihil pointed out.

With a few quick goodbyes, the guests hurried off to their own rooms in their groups of three.

The murderer knew, however, that the remaining Chatterboxers had already been divided- and in a way that was far more important, and dangerous, than their groupings for a game that served as a mere distraction. It was still fairly early in the morning, and the game had already failed at keeping the conversation of the Mystery at bay…

Day 13, part 2

Breakfast

Reese stared at her oatmeal. It tasted okay, but as she began to look at it intensely, she became rather revolted by it. She pushed her bowl away and surveyed her remaining friends- the three CBers, two CAPTCHAs, and three AEs she was surrounded by. She remembered the two AEs who were also there beside her just the day before, and she remembered something one of them had said. “We’ll work it out. Tomorrow.” Little did Alex know, there was no tomorrow for her. There were still things to work out, however, and Alex knew they had to be faced.

So Reese cleared her throat and did the one thing the murderer dreaded she would do- the thing they created the game to stop. “Guys, we need to talk about the Mystery.”

And so they did. They talked; then they fought; then they tried to make it up. But by the end of it, everyone’s side had been chosen; the ones who would push further into the Mystery, and the ones who wanted to save it. Reese, Devin, Darkking, Mor, and Bean wanted to push further. Porcelain, Catsquill, Wren, and Nihil wanted to protect it. The interrogator, the interrogated, and the murderer were all among those who were pushing to save it.

The murderer’s intense headache and uncontrollable desire to switch sides of the argument were saved by the discovery of the note, but there was no way the dispute could be taken back. Was it better for the group to be separated, or would it reveal to everyone who the murderer was? Would it keep them from asking questions about the Mystery, or would it only bring it into the discussion more? The murderer would have to wait for the answers- their game was now halting the Mystery talk, as was its purpose, but it decided to do so at such an inconvenient time…

And now they were finding their way to their destination with their two companions. They had picked the groups carefully, but they couldn’t deny some of the other parts were done sloppily- it had been late, they defended themselves, and they were tired. Besides, confusing everyone might work to their advantage. And at least they had a continuous theme, and a message for their friends to learn at the end of it all… and they were going to have to learn it the hard way.

Porcelain, Nihil, and Wren were the first to reach their destination of the craft room. Wren, who had the scribbled note of what they were supposed to do, read it aloud for them:

Wren, Porcelain, and Nihil- I’ve taken you to the room where, at some point, you might have found solace… and the place where Night Vision died. Sorry, didn’t mean to get morbid on you…. Here’s your goal.

You can see there’s a notebook and pens on the far table. I want each of you to rip two pieces of paper out of that notebook. You’re going to describe your two companions as best you can, using everything you know about them, each one getting their own sheet of paper. Then, you're going to share your thoughts and observations with each other. It’s easy enough and I think you’ll do just fine.

“Venn diagrams, and now this?” Porcelain questioned. “This is definitely a step down from forcing us to make weapons on terms of intimidation.”

But just as they had in the popcorn room, the guests acknowledged the fact that they had no real choices, and they began to do as they were told. Meanwhile, Darkking, Mor, and Reese climbed through the hidden door to the spot where Sea Glass was once held captive.

“Being here is so spooky,” Darkking admitted. Mor theorized that that was probably part of the murderer’s plan. But even without the knowledge that their friend was once kept in that very room, the place was pretty creepy- small, cold, white, and dimly lit, the weird room gave Reese chills.

The third group, meanwhile, was still searching for the dungeons. The murderer had even given them instructions of how to get there because it was such a complicated journey, and nobody but Caspian had made during their time at Magicae Palace so far. As the group in Sea Glass’s room was looking over their assignment, Devin groaned about how boring it was just searching for the dungeons and not actually BEING in them.

“We’re getting there, Devin!” Bean sighed. Even the calm and kindhearted AE was getting annoyed with him now. “These instructions say we should be getting there soon…”

“Why should we believe them?” Devin moaned.

“We’ve got no choice, Devin!” Catsquill barked. “We haven’t been given a choice.”

“We have, actually!” Devin exploded. “We chose to come to this awful castle! Don’t you remember getting your letter? And filling out the sheet? You chose to do all of that, and for what? The magic? Or didn’t you already know what was coming?”

The other two were quiet, but they were both remembering. Bean even remembered asking Quill about the death that was bound to come with going to the castle. How did she not remember that whole conversation once she landed at the base of the castle’s hill?

“You’re right, Devin…. Yet we always seem to be surprised when it happens,” Catsquill mused.

And then, something happened.

The Chatterboxers began to remember other ski lodges.

Day 13, part three

Simul and the murderer could, of course, feel it. It broke the murderer’s spine, mind and heart…. everything they went through to save the Mystery from entering the guests’ delicate minds, and they managed to uncover prior ski lodges from their memory?

They saw little flashes before their eyes. There were treehouses and pie fights and dragons and soccer games and popcorn. There were pairs of blue lips and echoing shrieks. There was pain, and there was joy, and somewhere entangled in the scene was the sound of shattering glass; another window had been broken, and the guests hesitantly poked their heads through it. The poor, poor Mystery. It was tired and broken and it wasn’t thinking straight. Yet somehow, it was bringing the murderer so much pain….

“Are you okay?”

Panicked words that brought the murderer back into the present… how they longed to reply truthfully…

But that would be impossible. They muttered a reply to the guest beside them, staring at the ground to avoid their concerned stare. The gift of the other guests’ concern was something they had to resist. It took a little bit of convincing, but the murderer managed to shake away the questions of the CBer.

The dungeon group did finally find their way to their destination, pondering the Mystery and all these past ski lodges along the way. The three in Sea Glass's room had been instructed to think about the others around them without saying a single word, and just continue to do so until the room would automatically unlock itself. The crazy assignment made Reese laugh, but she stopped seeing the pointed looks on Darkking and Mor’s faces. She soon joined them sitting with their legs crossed on the floor.

Catsquill, meanwhile, read aloud the murderer’s note to him, Devin, and Bean: they were to find… well, they didn’t know what exactly- the murderer didn’t tell them. The note did say, however, that whatever it was they were supposed to be looking for was important to one of them- maybe an item stolen from their luggage, Catsquill theorized.

“You mean they might’ve STOLEN from me?” Devin cried indignantly, thinking of his Nintendo switch, headphones, and fart guns. Bean shivered, thinking about the murderer running their sullied fingers over the strings of her guitar. Catsquill fretted over his futuristic I-Phone. Knowing they all had valuables to be concerned about, their immediate instinct was to run and search all over the dungeons, but Catsquill reminded them they wanted a strategy so they wouldn’t get lost in the maze of eerie passages.

Porcelain, Wren, and Nihil in the craft room were having no trouble in writing down what they knew and observed of the others around them, and in fact, they were almost finished writing. Reese, however, was having a very hard time with her task of wordlessly, noiselessly sitting with Darkking and Mor. She had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop from bursting out laughing. And eventually, she could no longer contain herself- shaking with joy, her hand left her mouth momentarily, and out came a loud snort and a jumble of of chortles.

Almost immediately, an arrow was shot from unseen trapdoor in the ceiling. It hit Mor and smashed through her skull. Darkking cried out, Reese shouted his name, then leaped forward and shoved him into the wall. The second arrow and the result of Darkking’s shout bounced harmlessly off the floor, but Mor was already gone. Darkking had both his fists clamped firmly over his mouth, but he was shaking violently in Reese’s arms. He stared at his little winged CAPTCHA with blurry, tear-stained vision. His sweet Mor. He wondered if he would ever be able to tear his eyes away from the sight of her broken body.

The other groups, while they hadn’t witnessed it yet, were not any safer than poor Mor. Traps were all around them- rigged and ready to take out those who stepped out of line, as well as some who didn’t deserve to meet their doom quite so quickly. The horrible results of every little action had been carefully picked by the murderer. While the execution with the notes at the beginning had been sloppy, the tragedies that were bound to take place had been set up perfectly.

While Darkking and Reese were still silently clinging to each other, Wren, Porcelain and Nihil finished up their task of sharing all that they had written about each other. They stacked their papers in a neat pile, and, with a little hesitation, left the room. The instant they stepped out into the hallway, they set off an intricate trap. Rocks rained down from trapdoors in the ceiling and tumbled after the trio.

“RUN!” Porcelain screamed. But the only way to run was down the stairs, where the growing avalanche of boulders would follow them. Nihil wasted no time using her shadow powers to teleport from place to place, and Porcelain pumped her legs as hard as she could. Wren, still shocked and confused, fell behind. She felt a sharp pain on her heel when a heavy rock collided with it. Porcelain turned at the sound of her cry.

“WREN!” she shouted- but it was too late. The shy, kind AE was swallowed by the tumbling mass of rocks. Porcelain knew nothing could be done for Wren, and she continued to hurry down the stairs with tears in her eyes. The staircase took a sharp turn, and Porcelain saw a door to the left. She wasted no time shouting to her CAPTCHA to follow her and flung open the door, then slammed it shut once she and Nihil were both safely inside. She could hear the sound of rocks and boulders piling up against the door, trapping them inside.

“We’re trapped!” she groaned, looking at her CAPTCHA. But Porcelain’s dismay soon turned to curiosity. Nihil had found a note from the murderer dangling from the ceiling.

“You’re brilliant, Nihil!” Porcelain praised as she rushed over to snatch the letter from the string it was hanging on. “It says that… well, first in congratulates us on escaping the avalanche, but- then it says there’s another way out of here! Start looking for a lever, Nihil!”

And so the two started searching the small, dark room for an escape. Meanwhile, in the dungeons, Catsquill was coaching Devin and Bean on how they were going to keep track of the maze-like dungeon- he gave both of them a piece of crumpled-up paper he found in his pocket and told them to tear off little bits of it and leave a visible trail. They each chose a path and set out to look for… whatever it was they were supposed to be finding.

So… two of nine had already been lost. More were destined to come. The guests had begun to remember ski lodges of the past.  They were so close to the end, yet they were also so close to breaking Magicae Palace. Just one more accident and… Well, the murderer knew what then. And so did Simul.

Simul… Aqua had informed her about the game, and she knew immediately what it was for- but she also knew how it had failed. Simul felt like she hadn’t quite realized what was at risk until that very moment- she felt the terror at the thought of loosing all of it grip her, and she was certain it would never let go. Perhaps in a day from then, Magicae Palace would no longer exist. Perhaps in a day from then, Simul herself would no longer exist…

Simul.

She heard her name. It was faint. She couldn’t tell who was calling to her… but she knew it was important. Something out there needed her.

Simul. We’re going to show you something.

Okay, she told the voice. And so they showed her. And what she saw changed everything.

~~~~~ Wow... that was a lot of stuff I just threw at you XD